Thursday, June 26

Ceis Not Testifying

Judge Pechman has ruled that Deputy Seattle Mayor Tim Ceis will not be allowed to be called as a rebuttal witness for the city.

Pechman decided Ceis, who ostensibly would rebut the argument that the city was involved in a "hand-in-glove" relationship with the efforts to force the PBC to sell the team, does not need to testify as he has already been deposed, and in that deposition he affirmed that he had not seen the "Poisoned Well" PowerPoint presentation.

In earlier testimony, the PBC called Seattle City Councilman Nick Licata, introduced two pieces of evidence, and, finally, rested their case. The city will wrap up its case today and then closing arguments will take place this afternoon.

While many will point to Pechman's denial of Ceis' testimony as a big loss for the city, I would argue that, as Pechman pointed out, Ceis already was deposed and spoke on this subject. While it would have been nice for Ceis to further illustrate this point, remember, this is not a jury trial. So long as the judge is aware of the situation, it is unnecessary for the city to go through histrionics to prove its point.

1 comment:

Anonymous
said...

Agreed. I'm glad this ruling on Ceis came on a day when there will plenty else for people to talk about. With two closing arguments and the NBA draft going on today, this will get buried, and we won't have to read ad nauseum about how devastating this is to the case.